Duke’s Jacob Kasper on Greco, College, and Enforcing His Style
TDR Editor’s Notes ; A look at what a Duke University wrestler did in his season ‘off’.
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Transition wrestling has become the “new norm” at the collegiate level. Some of the top athletes enrolled at several of the biggest schools in the country have elevated both their profiles and skill-sets after taking redshirt years to prepare for international competition, especially in Olympic years. That might be part of what is behind Jacob Kasper’s surge. The redshirt senior at Duke took seventh at the US Nationals in December has been on a tear this season at Duke following his time spent training Greco Roman in Colorado Springs last year. Now back in Durham and on the unforgiving NCAA grind, Kasper is focused on smashing his way through the Atlantic Coast Conference before hopefully bigger things come March, when the national championships take place.
Rest of the story at …. http://www.fivepointmove.com/usa-greco/dukes-jacob-kasper-greco-college-enforcing-style/?mc_cid=4af88e4817&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Girls state wrestling talk draws interest
TDR Editor’s Notes; In Iowa they are also looking at expanding the opportunities to wrestle
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OTTUMWA — At first glance, Friday afternoon’s junior varsity wrestling tournament at Lakeview Gymnasium wouldn’t appear to be all that newsworthy. Those in attendance for the JV portion of the Centerville Big Red wrestling tournament, however, might have gotten a glimpse into the future. The 113-pound portion of the tournament featured a very unique bracket with all female competitors taking the mat to determine a champion. One of those female wrestlers, Ottumwa junior Morgan Lawson, was excited to participate in the Centerville tournament. “We’re all going to be wrestling at 113. I’ve been kind of run down because I’ve been cutting weight, but I feel like I’ll be at a more comfortable weight and, once I get some food in my body, I’m going to wrestle really well,” Lawson said. “I know Morgan’s excited for the opportunity and we’re excited for her,” Ottumwa head wrestling coach Jeremy Frueh added. Even more exciting is the possibility that an all-female Iowa State Wrestling Tournament might be something she will have a chance to compete in some day. Jean Berger, the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union’s executive director, told the Des Moines Register on Wednesday that she’s open to considering ways to create new athletic opportunities for girls — and that includes wrestling.
Rest of the story at …. http://www.ottumwacourier.com/sports/high_school_sports/girls-state-wrestling-talk-draws-interest/article_cd3106e4-da0d-11e6-a900-37f11261dd5f.html?mc_cid=831ee9010e&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
A sport dominated by boys is making room for a new class
TDR Editor’s Notes ; In Illinois another state is looking to expand the opportunities to wrestle.
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Kylie Miller, a freshman at Grant Park who dropped 12 pounds to get down to 126 so she can wrestle more people her height, threw her male opponent in a headlock and got her first career win with a pin.
“I can’t stop thinking about it,” she said the next day at school. “It’s a tough sport, and I finally won. It just shows that girls can be in a guys’ sport.” Nationally, high school wrestling participation has declined while girls’ participation has nearly doubled from 7,351 girls during the 2010-11 school year to 13,496 girls during the 2015-16 school year. According to the Illinois High School Association, 394 girls have appeared on wrestling rosters this season, an 11 percent increase over the 355 girls who wrestled last year, which is when it first started collecting data.
Rest of the story at ….. http://www.daily-journal.com/news/local/a-sport-dominated-by-boys-is-making-room-for-a/article_0d0b65ff-2f35-572e-941d-e82a03a458b9.html?mc_cid=831ee9010e&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Wolfpack Travels to UNC for Pivotal ACC Dual Monday Night
TDR Editor’s Notes; This rivalry match is always a well wrestled match of a high degree of intensity as these neighboring schools battle for the bragging rights to the top team in North Carolina. I wish that I could see it in person yet will not be able to do so this year.
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RALEIGH, N.C. – The 10th ranked NC State wrestling team heads to rival North Carolina for an ACC dual Monday night at 7 p.m. The dual will take place at UNC’s Memorial Hall, tickets are available by clicking HERE, and it will be available to watch HERE. Off to an 8-1 start this season, the Wolfpack opened the ACC portion of its schedule with a dominating 34-6 home win over Duke on Jan. 11. The Tar Heels fell at No. 17 Arizona State Friday night, 31-9, but have won four of their last six duals with the only losses at Arizona State and against No. 6 Virginia Tech (28-8). The two coaches have already determined the dual will start at 149 pounds, meaning the final match of the night will be No. 2 Kevin Jack versus No. 3 Joey Ward at 141 pounds. Rest of the story at ….. http://www.gopack.com/news/2017/1/22/wrestling-packwrestle-travels-to-unc-for-pivotal-acc-dual.aspx
Colorado testing idea of adding girls high school wrestling
TDR Editor’s Notes; Another example of growing wrestling opportunities. At least six states have a separate girls wrestling division while several others have girls-only tournaments during the season or are testing the idea like Colorado is.
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FREDERICK — Esperanza Reyes left the wrestling mat nearly in tears. Her family had intently watched her first match inches off the mat and her dad rushed to greet her as she walked off, quick with a hug and words of comfort. Minutes later Reyes, a sophomore at Denver North High School, had traded sadness for a wide smile. Being pinned in the first round Saturday wasn’t what she was hoping for, but the match itself was part of something much bigger than the result itself. Reyes was one of 80 wrestlers competing at Frederick High School in the first high school girls wrestling tournament in Colorado history. “This could be a once-in-a-lifetime thing. You never know if it will happen again,” Reyes said. “It’s cool that when I’m older I’ll be able to say I was part of the first one.” If Saturday is any indication, girls wrestling is an emerging force in the state. The Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) announced in early December that Saturday’s tournament would start a trial run for girls wrestling to gauge participation interest. Right now, girls who wish to wrestle participate on the boys teams, with no female division. Rest of the story at …. http://www.coloradoan.com/story/sports/high-school/wrestling/2017/01/14/high-school-girls-wrestling/96577724/?mc_cid=4af88e4817&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
J.J. Watt Foundation funds Two Middle School Wrestling Mats
TDR Editor’s Notes; As Marty Robbins sang “Out in the west Texas town of El Paso….” we found news of new wrestling opportunities. While they are a far ways off any time we see news of new teams it is pointed out as it is to encourage others to think about increasing the opportunities for more wrestlers. Can especially relate to the thrill in “…scents of the new wrestling mats …”.
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Few things smell better than a brand new car. Except, of course, if you’re a physical education teacher and you just got a brand new wresting mat. At least that’s what Victor Morales, a coach at Guillen Middle School, thought earlier this week as he took in the sights and scents of the new wrestling mats that were donated to the school by the Justin J. Watt Foundation. “It’s beautiful,” Montes said. “This is going to be such a big help.” Guillen and Magoffin middle schools received new wrestling mats thanks to the foundation created by J.J. Watt, the star defensive end for the NFL’s Houston Texans. The foundation provides funding for after-school athletic programs in underserved schools in Wisconsin and Texas. Rest of the story at …. http://elpasoheraldpost.com/j-j-watt-foundation-funds-two-middle-school-wrestling-mats/?mc_cid=af53157258&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
No. 2 Penn State, No. 3 Iowa set to tangle in primetime
TDR Editor’s Notes; About as big as they get # 3 at # 2 and on TV at 9:00 p.m. CST
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BY NATE COBLER
ncobler@centredaily.com
Four words is all he needed: “This is big time.”
That is how true freshman Nick Suriano described Penn State’s match with Iowa.
“This is not just another match,” Suriano said. “This is what you live for. You don’t shy from those matches, you live for those matches.”
That is also how Iowa coach Tom Brands described the match to reporters on Tuesday at his weekly press conference.
When the No. 2 Nittany Lions and No. 3 Hawkeyes tangle at 9 p.m. Friday night, fans in the stands of Carver-Hawkeye Arena and fans watching around the country on the Big Ten Network are in for a show.
“I was a sophomore in high school,” Brands said. “I went to a camp and there was some coaches at that camp that coached college and they were repeatedly saying that wrestling is being ruined by Dan Gable. Now, you hear that argument that Penn State is making wrestling boring. Ask (Oklahoma State coach) John Smith what he thinks about that.
“Actually it’s good for wrestling. It’s a barometer. You know they are going to have guys that wrestle hard or whatever. We want to do that to and we have guys that wrestle hard.”
The matchup will start with four of the first five bouts pitting ranked wrestler against ranked wrestler. Three of those matches will include wrestlers in the top three of their weight classes. Two of those matches feature undefeated records on the line for both wrestlers in the bout.
Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/sports/college/penn-state-university/psu-wrestling/article127585114.html#storylink=cpy
How college wrestling coaches handle transfers
TDR EDitor’s Notes; An interesting story by the MatBoss Staff which is of interest to wrestling fans across the country. Enjoy!
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Jeremy Spates attended Norman (Okla.) High School and had plans to wrestle for his father Jack Spates at the University of Oklahoma. Spates, a state champion and three-time Junior All-American, spent his first year out of high school taking classes at OU and training with the Sooners’ freestyle wrestling team. The plan was for Spates to officially join the Oklahoma wrestling team the following season. That plan changed, however.One of Oklahoma’s top wrestlers at that time was Michael Lightner, an NCAA finalist who competed in the same weight class (141 pounds) as Spates. “My dad kind of talked me into going somewhere else,” said Spates. “He thought going somewhere where I could do my own thing might be best. My dad was like, ‘Well, what do you think about going somewhere else and then transferring back?'” So the plan changed. Spates was going to compete at the University of Missouri for Brian Smith, a friend of Jack Spates, for a year and then transfer back to Oklahoma to wrestle for his father. After Spates arrived at Missouri and joined the Tigers, the plan changed again.
“Once I got to Missouri I loved it,” said Spates. “I was part of that building process with Coach Smith. I didn’t end up transferring back, which is a tough discussion to have with a coach and your father.” Rest of the story at …. http://matbossapp.hs-sites.com/blog/how-college-wrestling-coaches-handle-transfers?mc_cid=a089e7884a&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Pittsburgh announces changes in wrestling leadership
TDR Editor’s Notes; In a rather surprising and unusual move the Pittsburgh University Panthers made a coaching change at mid-season. After the change the team swept three dual meets by a combined score of 123-6.
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BY PITTSBURGH SPORTS INFORMATION | JAN. 19, 2017, 12:51 P.M. (ET)
PITTSBURGH—The University of Pittsburgh announced today a leadership change with the Pitt wrestling program effective immediately. Assistant staff members Matt Kocher and Drew Headlee will serve as acting co-head coaches for the balance of the 2017 season. Jason Peters, the Panthers’ head coach since 2013, is no longer with the University. Rest of story at …. http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2017/January/19/Pittsburgh-announces-changes-in-wrestling-leadership
Robert Patnesky Named Head Wrestling Coach
TDR Editor’s Notes; Coach Patnesky has done a great job building the Davidson program and will depart after the season to a new challenge up north. We wish him good luck and success.
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ERIE, Pa. – Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, has selected Robert Patnesky to become the second head wrestling coach in program history. Patnesky spent the last 12 season as the head coach at Division I Davidson College in Mooresville, North Carolina. He left the program ranked second in career victories, mentored five national championship qualifiers and four Southern Conference Champions for the Wildcats. “We are excited to have Coach Patnesky as the lead of our wrestling program,” said Director of Athletics Brian Streeter. “His previous experiences will benefit the department as we begin to grow a team once again. Patnesky is a proven coach who understands the academic standards in which to recruit.” Davidson was consistently one of the top wrestling programs in the country for academics under Patnesky’s tutelage. The Wildcats were ranked in the NWCA’s Division I All-Academic Top 30 for five consecutive years (2006-10), earning the fifth-best team grade-point average in 2009 and 2010, and also ranking 12th in 2012. Rest of the story at …. http://psblions.com/general/2016-17/releases/20161221nperh2?mc_cid=146d186925&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
TDR blog
After 20 seasons of publicizing wrestling The TakeDown Report’s (TDR) focus has changed to the collecting of college coaching records from North America since 1903. We will continue to recognize and reward successful wrestlers in eastern North Carolina (east of Raleigh & Fayetteville), assist with schools in starting or re-starting a team and this blog. Join us on our FaceBook Page – “The TakeDown Report” for photos and news. Please send results, stories, links and news to pass along. E-mail us at takedownreport@gmail.com
Martin Fleming, Editor
Takedown Report
